Uber to unveil website to assist city officials dealing with traffic congestion on local streets

If you commute through a busy metropolitan city every morning, you’re well aware of the mounds of traffic sitting between your front door and the office.

While traffic congestion has always been a problem for cities, the problem has gotten worse in recent years. The city of Toronto is a good example of this trend.

In response to this, ride-hailing service Uber has committed to launching “Movement,” a new transportation website curated by the company to provide average trip times for daily routes on specific days, at specific times.

The San Francisco-based ride-hailing company believes the data will give city officials the tools to make informed decisions about road closures and transportation planning.

While private tests will begin in Washington, Sydney and Manila, Philippines, Uber eventually hopes to roll out the service to most of the hundreds of cities where the company operates its service.

The Associated Press reports that this gesture comes as an act of goodwill after a long-running habit of battling with municipal regulators over one thing or another. Last year, Toronto residents saw months of Uber vs. taxicab vitriol patrolling through downtown streets, protests which eventually led a court to legalize Uber in the city.

The website will likely be available to everyone for free in mid-February.